Crystal Palace Claim to Be World's Oldest Professional Football Club (Even Though They Aren't)

​Crystal Palace have proclaimed themselves as the oldest professional football club on the planet, after 'new' research by the club's very own historian.

It's widely believed that Notts County, who were formed 1862, are the oldest professional football club who are still active to this day, but a historian who's employed by Crystal Palace says it's actually the Eagles who deserve that title.

Club historian and author Peter Manning believes he's uncovered the real truth behind Crystal Palace's origins, claiming that the club weren't actually formed in 1905 but rather in 1861, which coincidently happens to be just before Notts County.

"The Crystal Palace was the world’s first major theme park, and without the Crystal Palace Company there would have been no Crystal Palace football club," Manning said, quoted by the Guardian.

"It is ironic that the one surviving remnant of the Crystal Palace Company is now the big crowd-puller and money-earner, but as the founding of the club dates back to 1861 it can claim to be the oldest professional league club in the world. The company would have been extremely proud of what has been achieved."

Well, it's seemingly hard luck for any Crystal Palace fans who bought that centenary shirt back in 2005, but having the tag as the world's oldest football team would be quite the claim for fame - even though it is just the club who are claiming it for themselves.

Unfortunately, it's a claim which isn't groundbreaking in the slightest, and for some people might actually be considered as an outright lie.

This research which Crystal Palace insinuate they've done appears to be nothing more than reading a four-year-old book, titled "The Origin of Crystal Palace FC, Volume 1" which was written by author Steve Martyniuk.

In the book, Martyniuk explains how there was a football team which was formed in 1861 called Crystal Palace. Unfortunately for the team we know today, that club actually disbanded in 1876 and the current team didn't reform until 1905.